Latest / Color Commentary / Ep 25 | The Oscar 10 & What We Built: Energy Convertors and The Agentic Institute

Transcript

Ep 25 | The Oscar 10 & What We Built: Energy Convertors and The Agentic Institute · Color Commentary

• Charles Cole: Welcome to color commentary, podcast with a story shaping our world and told in black and white first. And then we dig into the deeper meaning of full color. Each week I'll be bringing you the news like this. First we'll start with what I like to call the black and white section, a clear, straight shooting rundown of the facts and the tradition of grace like Ed Bradley, Walter Cronkite and the classic voices of journalism. Then we'll shift into color commentary section where I have my own personal opinions and insights. Sometimes it'll just be me. Sometimes we'll have guests, sometimes we'll have my incredible producer chime in. But let's figure that out together exactly what we want this show to be with your feedback, help us shape that journey. Let's get into it. Okay, so we're back and today we have a full episode, but I want to revisit the BAFTA conversation at least one more time because the comments have not stopped coming in and there's one more thing I need to say. ⁓ Then we're just going to walk through all 10 best picture nominees ahead of the Oscars ⁓ this Sunday. what they are, whether I've seen them, what I actually think. I'll be honest about which ones I've seen and which ones I haven't and which ones I had, you know, I had to walk away from just for the moment. let's, I just really love movies. And this episode, that episode where we initially talked about the BAFTAs is blown up and I'm still fielding commentary. So let's get into it. On February 22nd at the 79th BAFTA Film Awards in London, Michael- B. Jordan and Delray Lindo were presented on stage when a man from the audience with Tourette's Syndrome, John Davison, had an involuntary vocal tick that included, ⁓ I don't say the N-word, it included the word nigga. BAPTIS, and I'm just giving you all an update just in case you missed it, BAPTIS and the BBC both issued formal apologies. Lindo said publicly he wished someone from the BAPTIS had spoken to them afterwards. The BBC broadcast aired on a two-hour tape delay. I cannot stress this enough. During that same broadcast, the phrase, free Palestine, spoken during the ceremony was edited out. The N-word was not. ⁓ The incident has continued generating public debate though, including in the comments of this very show. So specifically around the question of who bears responsibility, who deserves empathy, and what we ask black people to absorb in public spaces. let's just get into it, okay? So I call it the Oscar 10. The 98th Academy Awards air Sunday, March 15th, and it's gonna be hosted by Conan O'Brien at the Dolby Theater in LA. Here are the 10 best picture nominees, okay? Sinners, directed by Brian Coogler, stars Michael B. Jordan as his twin brother, Smoke and Stack. And they're the ones that had the record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations. Also, point of order real quick. You might hear, I don't know, the mics are really good, so it might not pick up the extra noise. I'm in the Midwest. We have a crazy storm that's happening. It is a cacophony of multiple thunderstorms at the same time, tornado ⁓ warnings, flooding. So I'm just keeping an eye out on things, but it's quite interesting. I would definitely say it is quite interesting. But here are the movies. I just talked about Sinners. Then you got One Battle After Another. After that, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, F won the movie. Begonia, Hamnet, The Secret Agent, Sentiments of Value, and Train Dreams, all right? Let's, that's the news. I wanna talk about it because again, I love, I just have been loving movies. I've been loving the dialogue and commentary around these movies. And I wanna continue to have that time. I wanna continue having a good time with it. And then this thing with the Baptist came and it's always something. Something definitely happens. It's, you know, it's a thing. ⁓ So let's go into this color commentary. Okay, the BAFTAs, one last time. The comments on the last two episodes have been rolling in and I wanna engage one argument directly before I close this chapter. Someone in my comments made the case that nobody should be offended by something that comes from a disability. The comparison that this woman made, ⁓ they use a person who is in a wheelchair suggesting that being offended by an involuntary tick is equivalent to being upset that someone in a wheelchair can't give you a standing ovation. And I want to address that directly because that is an incredibly false equivalence and it just deserves a real response. Two things can be true at the same time. Two things can be true at the exact same time. I wanna get into this. Let's get comfortable. John Davison has a disability. His tics are involuntary. I have said this on that show multiple times and I mean that. I'm not really having a lot of issue with him the man. I wanted to just say that. And, and, cause two things can be true at the same time and two black men can still be offended when they get called nigga. on the biggest stage of their career. Both of those things are simultaneously true. One does not erase the other. And we had a beautiful just the loud roar and crack of thunder right at that moment. One does not erase the other. disability explains the cause. It does not eliminate the impact. Those are two different conversations. Now, Here's the detail that settles the institutional question for me. The BBC had a two hour tape delay and in that same broadcast, they edited out the phrase, free Palestine before it aired. They had the technology, they had the time and they made a choice and they protected the broadcast from one phrase and not the other. You tell me what that says about whose comfort that institution was built to protect. Tell me. I want the comments to keep coming. I will make sure this gets clipped so we can keep this conversation going. The comments also push back on the empathy question. And I'll be direct, them two brothers were the epitome of class. Listen, man, I'm going to say this again. On the biggest night of their collective careers, Del Ray Lindo especially, especially after all the snubs, all the hard work, never getting his due, never getting the right pay, being overlooked year in and year out for awards that he should have been housing, should have won, defied bloods by itself, okay? This man has been nothing but class his entire career. They get called a nigger in front of the entire world. And the expectation from some corners is that they remain gentlemen, stay composed and move on, which they did by the way. So I just ask out loud to that commenter, where's the empathy for them? Listen, also, I don't have an issue, but I think some of these details are important. It was a white lady that was in the comments and this just continued to miss her. Okay. So I'm going to close with something that I said in my own comments. And I just want to say again on this microphone, you get to have your opinion, but recognize that you are talking to a black man about how black men should feel about being called nigger on a world stage. I'm hella offended for them and I'm not even offended. by just the word. I'm offended by... This expectation. of grace from these men. That they just not supposed to have no kind of feelings about it. And that this other man is like this crazy victim. Now it's unfortunate, but he is going to be okay. Again, some people might've had reservations and some people make jokes and some people acknowledged it, but ain't nobody threatening that man. nobody, that man is going to be fine. He is going to be fine. He's gonna be fine. And I'm offended for them. And I get to be. And this, I wanna say this the last time I'm addressing this Bafta incident on the show, the Oscars are Sunday, Sinners is having a moment. I'ma try to move forward. But fuck that. If there is more smoke that comes around this, I'm with it. I am with it. I'm with it. I am so, so with it. Okay? Moving forward. Now that I got that out of my system, the Oscar 10. I'm gonna be straight with you about what I've seen and what I haven't. And I'm gonna riff on these. Let's start with what I know, okay? These are the films that I have seen. And I wanna name them and I'll just go in order. I was gonna just name all of them and then give my thoughts, but I'm just gonna lay it out. Okay, first we got Sinners. I've covered this movie wall to wall on this show. I'm from Oakland. You know Ryan, Ryan Coogler. I'm rocking with him, man. Michael B. Jordan, I'm rocking with him. Michael B. Jordan's playing two characters. By the way, shouldn't if you play two characters where somebody else could have played the other character and you're essentially doing extra work because you have to do all the lines that they would have if another person played it plus. You have to do hours and hours of makeup and all kind of special shit. Shouldn't that person probably get double pay? What does SAC say about that? Like, I feel like Eddie Murphy, feel like, like, like, like, Michael B. Jordan in this moment. Cause again, he's playing these people straight up. Like they're like, I know Tom Hardy has done that before too. Like playing two people straight up. Anyway, let me not get distracted. I love this movie. I have seen it. This is the film of the year for me ⁓ for a bunch of reasons. And listen, I'm not, don't think people ⁓ are bad or something. They don't love that movie. It's a movie. You get to think that. I think we taking shit way too seriously. And I get the idea and hypotheses of it all, but like, Sinners accomplished so many different things. And I think cinematically, I think it was great. And I'm hearing a lot of. critics talk about it, like it's an okay movie. ⁓ They talk about centers how I talk about one battle after another. Okay, so I think it is my pick for movie of the year. I don't know if it will get it. I don't really think it will get it. I don't know, maybe I should be sure. I put a bet in on Cashee, I don't know. I don't know, I don't get paid for them. I'm not really promoting, gambling to other people. I'm just wondering if I should do it. ⁓ But I love that movie. I love what it's done for those people. And I just love the story. I wish, well, I know, I don't know. I don't know, because I don't want Warners to bleed ⁓ this movie dry. They own it for X amount of years. So I know they're going to probably, it's a cash machine. So they're probably going to do some type of sequel or prequel. If they did do a prequel, you could do a really good prequel about the smokestack. You can do a whole thing on that first half. You can do the stuff with Ann Chicago and then even what their life was back home. And even like just living in that town more, you don't even have to have a henna vampire. Or you can do that and have, don't know, but. It was just telling a great story, man. I love the cinematography. I love the whole thing. ⁓ It is what it is. Second movie, One Battle After Another. I saw this. It's Paul Thomas Anderson. It's Leonardo DiCaprio as a former revolutionary whose past catches up with him. ⁓ It is a front runner for Best Picture. And it has had a dominant award season. Golden Globes, Producers Guild, Directors Guild. I have a feeling. I have feelings about whether it should be centers. I don't think that it should. I think that the movie had a lot of bright spots. I love the looks that a lot of people got. ⁓ I think Teyana Taylor is a star. I think she is going to be a star. ⁓ I think she is a star, but it's going to keep and continue coming. And I'm very. Would I be mad if it won? I guess is the question. I don't know if it could be mad. I don't know if I could be mad if it wins, because it is a favorite. ⁓ Again, I think that a lot at the beginning of this award season, it was kind of the showdown between Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothee Chalamet for Best Male Actor or Best Male Performance. And again, shout out to Michael B. Jordan for stealing that just recently. ⁓ which was huge. It was really, really huge. I don't love the movie, man. I just, think it's overrated. think, but I will say this, Sean Penn, that's locked up. It's locked. It's locked up. I what, like, I mean, I ain't seen him go like that hard since like Milk. Bro went hard. He was acting. I don't think it's one of Leo. I don't like Leo in that movie. I respect Leo, man. I love Leo. I just, I don't love that movie. I'm going to have to watch it again. It's not a bad movie. I liked pieces of it. I think Chase Infinity is going to do great. I love seeing her get shine. I think her character made a lot of key mistakes and got Regina. got Regina Hall, you know what I'm saying? ⁓ Messed up. She just told you to get rid of your phone and you want to be a teenager and keep you. guess you were a teenager in the movie, so I didn't like it. I didn't love it. Don't hate it. I just don't think it should win. Which brings me to number three, Marty Supreme, which I have seen Timothy Chalamet table tennis. He won the Golden Globe for this. Michael B. Jordan beat him at the Actor Awards and the internet nearly broke. And it's an interesting showdown. It's going to be very interesting. And I love how cordial they are with each other. You can tell that they seem to get along. I think Timothy Shaller, I think Hollywood is opening the door and laying at his teat. I think he's going to have so many opportunities. I don't know how many times Michael B. Jordan's gonna get this look. I hope it's a lot. I think it was the best acting job homie did. I think, but Timothy Chalamet is a star. He is a star. I don't know how mad I could be if that won or if Timothy won best actor. Look, homie, you made a movie about table tennis popular, bruh, even though it didn't do well at the box office, neither did one battle out there or another. And it's funny how- Once a black movie gets introduced and we're talking about like and it have sales because that's usually the thing is that black movies can't sell and then you blow all them out the water. Now nobody want to talk about the money, but they want to talk about the money the first week they when they thought it was a bust and they thought it was a terrible deal that they I keep talking about centers on. I just did it again. Didn't I? God damn it. Bad Charles. Bad, bad Charles. Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, Oscar Isaac as Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the creature. I didn't know Jacob Elordi was that tall. He is really, really, really tall. ⁓ I have seen this one. Del Toro is one of the best visual directors alive. And this is his full gothic vision. And listening to him talk about the movie and what Frankenstein and Pinocchio meant to him, because I used to wonder, I did wonder like, yo, like. What like, ⁓ why those two movies? The type of movies you tend to do. But he talked about how those movies guided him as a child and how he wanted to have his own interpretation of it. And that he did. He strayed away in a lot of different ways. I love Frankenstein. I had such a ball, such a good time with it. It was such a fun movie. And the retelling of the story, the reimagining, telling the story from both Dr. Frankenstein's perspective. and the monsters perspective was really cool. And, you know, the the premise of the movie is that it's a deeper meaning. Like, I love stories like this that can stand the test of time. And also, Mary Shelley was a fucking teenager when she wrote this, like there are two people don't tell me what young people can't do because I'm going give you these two names all the time. OK, it's fucking Nas, who wrote Illmatic at 17 and recorded at 18 and came out of 19 around that time. and Mary Shelley in Frankenstein in her catalog, where she started writing as a teen. And for her to take these themes and so young around the duality of humanity and the wanting to play God and also being something that was created that you didn't ask to be created, but now you're trying to find your place in life. I mean, I'm just thoroughly impressed. And I think the movie was able to capture that. It was able to capture that duality in what happens when we we try to play God. ⁓ And even like the closure between the monster, between the creature and the doctor and who is the real monster. Right. I think it's a beautiful story. And I think Guillermo del Toro, if you let him play with with creatures. He just gonna do his thing. He is a child in a old school KB Toys. The Toys are us. I think both of those are closed now. I'm old as shit. Also, I'm filming this right now. Bam out of Bayou just scored 83 points while I'm filming this. He just scored 83 points. It was the Wizards, but 83 points is 83 points. There's a lot going on today between the late start, these storms, bam out of Bayou Head in 83, and these people still trying to be on my head about my pushback about the Baftas. This is what the pod was made for. We are here, baby. We have arrived. Damn it. And then we got F1. It's Brad Pitt. It's Formula One. It's the same director as Top Gun Maverick. I have seen it. I love this movie. I had a great time with this movie. This movie was so fun. I have my little makeshift theater downstairs. I love watching that movie cranked up like it's a Marvel movie. The whole room shakes. It is so much fun. Movie of the year, honors? You gotta get up out of here with that. I don't know about that. We don't know about that, but it's such a fun movie. ⁓ I'm surprised Tom Cruise didn't fight Brad Pitt for that movie. I'm sure he wanted to. Is it better than Days of Thunder? I don't know, but I know the movie's fun. And like all Apple movies, it has this gloss to it. I like that gloss. Some people don't. I love the way Apple movies and Apple shows. So, you know, you can call me biased, but you can tell it's distinct. It's very distinct. And Bougogne. I watched Bagonia, Emma Stone. ⁓ The actors in it are incredible. Emma Stone is a beast. The girl, the woman can act. She's just good. Can Emma Stone just play regular characters again? Look, I know Pretty Things got her a lot of awards and this is gonna get her a lot of awards, has gotten her a lot of awards, I watched it, it wasn't really for me. Like I see, I can see the appeal. Like if you into like those type of movies, I just, they was all weird to me and I didn't care about none of them. Like I didn't, you know, the movie is, she an alien, these people, these two dudes that are, you know, not all the way there, think she might be. And it's just really about that. And this takes place in his basement, in her office. I, listen, I'm not trying to be disrespectful cause I really do respect the movie. But ain't this shit supposed to be about enjoying movies too? Did you really enjoy Begonia? I mean, listen, I'm not judging if you did. I just need somebody that enjoyed it to really talk to me. I'll go one. I'll go look. It's one of those movies where you recognize the brilliance of it, but it's like, I don't know if I need to see that again. And I don't know if it should win all these awards, but hell, if y'all gonna keep making ⁓ Emma Stone ugly and she gonna keep doing it, amen, God bless, do your thing. Now, I have to be honest, here's one that I started and did not finish. Hamnet, Chloe Zhao. And here's the thing. I am one of the people that actually really, really enjoyed Zoe Chao, mean, Chloe Zhao coming to the MCU. I really liked that movie. really, I liked the Eternals, man. I had a good time with the Eternals. I wanted it to keep going. You know, I think she brought a level of maturity to the MCU. think that it explores some stuff. You know, it's one of the first MCU movies where People are clearly knocking boots. ⁓ I mean, it was trying to, you know, bring Marvel into kind of prestige movie a little bit. And I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it. ⁓ It was just a lot of characters, I think, for people to keep on. But I loved it. Hamnet, I started it and I just didn't finish it. Honestly, I'm going to watch it. I'm going to watch it and finish it. I hear Jesse Buckley. is a revelation in that movie. So I want to see it. It might fall into the begonias ⁓ or one battle after another space of like, I can see the greatness in it. I may not personally love it, but I appreciate it as an art form. So I'm going to watch it. I just didn't feel like being that fucking depressed, man. It's a depressing movie, man. Okay, like. You can read the letter boxes like it's a very depressing movie. I don't know if I feel like being depressed right now. I just told you all the shit that was happening in my orbit. And hopefully, sorry microphone, if y'all was listening, hopefully that didn't boom me a ear. Hopefully I can get through this whole thing before power gives out and then knock on wood, we hope that that doesn't happen. But like I said, I'm going to watch it. I'm gonna finish it before Sunday. And we're gonna see how goes, man. Now here's some films I didn't see. This first one I'm very, very excited to see. It's The Secret Agent. I love Brazilian film and cinema. I love Brazil. Brazil is one of my... My favorite countries. I love the history. I grew up loving the history of Medellin and you know, I'm like any other boy ⁓ that grew up reading about these, hearing about these people, hearing about cocaine trades and you know, all that stuff. and then one of my favorite movies of all time is City of God, which is also in the Fabilias of Brazil. I love Brazil movies. And so, you know, this movie has Wagner Moura. He was in Narcos. He's a professor that's navigating some political danger in 1977, fascist Brazil. And it looks, it looks pretty good and is now on Hulu and Disney Plus. So I got to check it out. I got to check it out, man. I'm with it. I'm with it. A sentimental value is a Norwegian film by the father and daughter rebuilding their relationship. Stellan Skarsgard, know, this other lady has my mother's name, Renata Rensby, I might said that wrong, and Elle Fanning. I am, you know, both of these women are nominated for best supporting actress. I look forward to watching it. I am a Skarsgard family fan. I like seeing talent to families. I like seeing talent to people. And honestly, the Scarsgars, they don't miss to me. They really don't. ⁓ I'm coming off of it and just what the younger Scarsguard was able to do. It's so crazy. It was so good. It was so good. It was so good. And they get it from their daddy, who's also, he's just stellar. He is incredible. He's incredible. He's incredible. So, and then the final one. which I also heard is a very, it's also a very depressing movie. Train Dreams is based on a Dennis Johnson novella. Joe Edgerton is a railroad worker in the early 20th century. You know, it's nominated for best cinematography and best adaptive screenplay. I have not seen it. It's on Netflix now. ⁓ I don't have a lot around this, you know? Like I said, I heard that it also might be ⁓ you know, pretty depressing. I'm not sure. I get Graves Arouse vibes, but I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure. But I'm, you know, with this stuff coming up Sunday, after this, we'll get back to our regular scheduled program. And you know, if my guys win, I gotta talk about it. I gotta talk about it. But I do just appreciate though, right? that I like some eclectic things, some different things and. I did not know that these would be the most, I just didn't know. I didn't know these topics would be the ones that give me all the love. Yeah, I didn't know that I would find my tribe. like I said, I love watching movie TikTok, I mean, and movie YouTube. I got a few favorite shows. Midnight Boys, shout out to y'all. I love the Midnight Boys. ⁓ I enjoyed their podcast. Movie fights came back. I don't know if you've ever watched movie fights. They went on hiatus for a bevy of reasons, but very glad that they came back. ⁓ I like screen junkies. like all the video essay, the movie essay stuff. And I like it too because, and I like talking about it because I didn't go to film school. A lot of people that do those shows have gone to film school. They're directors, you know. ⁓ Like like Jeremy Johns. like all those people. I really do. like watching them. ⁓ I like the ones that love Marvel and the ones that hate Marvel. But it's the stuff that I play in the background. I like being able to talk about this stuff in a way that I consume it, in a way that I talk about it. ⁓ I don't know how to make a movie. I'm not looking at it from that way. I'm not looking at the super technical pieces like that. I just genuinely appreciate it and like it. And so, you know, and I like talking about the smart stuff and what's going on in the world and education and my work. you know, we have a new institution that I've that I'm building and doing a big show on. ⁓ We are hosting Dr. Fuller, Dr. Howard Fuller, who is. Special advisor to me, the CEO of the Agenetic Institute, which also houses Energy Converters, the organization that I run. And, you know, on the 18th, we're doing a big event. with him. So I like talking about that stuff. And, and, know, if you follow my socials, you see me promoting that crazy. If you want to go watch, if you want to come and be a part of that on any of my socials, you can sign up for the event. Right. We have a lot of RSVPs already. It's going to be virtual, but he, you know, somebody who loves movies, he just had his documentary come out on PBS. And I'm so honored to know the man, to learn from the man and all that stuff. ⁓ And normally that's what I would be promoting. I've been promoting it crazy. We got a good number. I really want to just talk about, you know, the Oscars coming up. I'm really excited about it. I'm you know, tonight has been a big night. Had this Bam out of Bayou stuff happened earlier. I would riff more. But before as I close, ⁓ just thank you. I appreciate it. And I appreciate the comments. I didn't say the lady's name that made the comments because I don't want her attacked. And this is the thing. I don't think she's Races, I don't think, you know, any of that stuff. You know, I just want to be very clear on that stuff. And I want to I want the conversation. We can disagree. And again, somebody not understanding all the context and nuances of race does not automatically make them racist. There are other races and cultures that I don't fully understand or may not understand things that they may be upset about or outraged on or not just races, but different groups. So I can give some grace there. And also, I just think that we are abusing that term. I think we call it, you don't call everything racist, because when real racists show up, you situate them next to things that ain't really that. can't, don't cry, don't cry wolf. It always backfires. And I think we live in a time where everything is either, everything is extreme, because that's the only way you can get attention. on the internet and I'm so grateful and I thank God for this show and for Tommy and for you all because we don't really do that. We just have conversation. We might be a little animated because that's just my personality. ⁓ But I just want to save the big threatening terms for the real threats. I think real racism exists and I think it's still pretty prevalent, everything, but that is for that reason that I don't call everything racist. everyone a racist that does not agree with said thing. I just don't do that. You know, when we talked about real racism, I gave you that in a few episodes about being stopped by the cops. Those are the real ramifications that could have cost me my life. I don't give a fuck about your opinion about a movie. There's levels to this. And as somebody who studies civil rights and somebody who knows a Dr. Howard Fuller or somebody You know, my grandmother is buried in the same cemetery as Emmett Till and Mamie Till and was friends with Mamie Till. Like, I was born in the same neighborhood as Fred Hampton. ⁓ I went to Huey P. Newton's, the same elementary school. My first book, Elaine Brown from the Black Panthers, was a big influence and told me that I was writing that book. was himminin' hard and we were talkin'. She kinda cussed me out and told me to write the book. Like, these people, I cannot do a disservice. We also just lost, you know, Reverend Jesse Jackson, however you feel about him. Like he put in some work, you know, I can't disrespect those people and their struggles and what they actually seen and the progress that they've made for us by devolving or by not having tough enough skin to discern between actual racism that we need to like attack and fix and work on as opposed to, you know, things that I just may not like. And I think we all should take that tone. I think that part of us being so extreme is part of the reason why this current administration just kind of gets to run rimshod over people. Because people are not knowing what to react to, because they react to everything. Can't react to everything that a crazy person says. You become the crazy person. Who's crazy at that point? So just think that's something to take with you. ⁓ But I just love the movies and I love hoop and Van Mata Bayou scoring 83 points tonight. I got to go and watch the clips. I have the game saved. you know, I have, you know, the NBA thing I pay for it. I'm going to watch that full game again. well, I saw clips I saw here and there. I was preparing for this and I was working, but I want to sit down and watch it. I want to I'm glad I get to sit and be a part of history, you know. Wilt's 100 point game was that game was not televised. And it makes it makes me want to honor people like Will Chamberlain. It makes me want to honor those guys. Bill Russell, also from Oakland, he's a Mac Climbers legend. ⁓ Eleven championships, however you feel those championships came, eleven championships player and coach. Like. I want to honor those guys because this sport didn't have to be here and they did a lot to save it. And then Magic and Larry came in and built another brick. And then Michael Jordan came and just flipped the whole thing. So to be able to see Bam out of Bayou do this, I'm interested to watch it again. It's the Wizards, but 83 is 83. And I'm just honored. I'm just honored. Before I close this out, and I know this episode was all over the place, but hear me on this. You can choose your mood. Like you can choose your outlook. Nobody else controls that. And what I mean by that is if you want to look at the world as super shitty, nothing's going well, it's horrible, it's terrible. Even with this crazy storm, I'm getting such an incredible light show from all this thunder and lightning. Like you can be upset and you have a, there's reason if you choose to see the world that way. But I also think that there's another way that you can choose to view it. You can choose to focus on the things that you blessed with. I'm blessed to have a home. Like I grew up homeless, so I'm blessed to have a home that I own. It ain't much, but it's mine. Everything tease little lights back here, yo, it's mine. And right now wanna make sure it don't flood. I got insurance though, know, some lightening do hit. I wanna make sure I'm safe. Or the freedom of movement that people have, that we have as black people. Like there's so much work that still needs to be done. But man, we've come so far, so far. I mean, and I say this with open eyes. I've been the first black X a few times. Like, the first black this or the first black that. That probably shouldn't still be happening in post 2000s, but it is. But I'm able to earn a living. I'm able to run my own company that I started, that I built on a napkin. And that might not be your testimony. I'm just giving you mine because you got to look through your eyes and build your own perspective. Belief somewhat in the law of attraction. not, you know, I don't do the pseudo science thing. You know, I try to be a good Baptist. I ain't the best one, but that's, you know, it is what it is. I'm very honest about it. I'm a heathen at times, but I do believe that, you know, from your mouth to God's ear. ⁓ And I just want to be grateful. I just, I just, I have to think about this in a way. What God wants to continue to bless you if you poo poo on all the blessings that he gave you. I learned this when I was a little boy. and it was a gift that my grandmother gave me. And I didn't even recognize it, but she gave me something and she was noticing how I loved the wrapping paper on it and I was so careful with the wrapping paper and I took the wrapping paper off and I folded it up and I took really good care of the wrapping paper. And she said something to me, I don't remember word for word, because I was really young, but she was just like, I've never. seeing anybody be so grateful for something that I gave them. And it makes me want to give you more. And being that I found God in her and that's the source of, you know, me believing in what I believe in and all that stuff. I I'm not about to get on here and preach. I'm not, I'm so not qualified to do that. I think I was cursed up a storm just before this, right? Like, but what I'm saying is if we made in God's image and some of the things that we feel, it feels kind of universal. And one of the things that I know a lot of us don't get enough of is appreciation, especially for our deeds, especially when we try and look out for people. protect people and love and care for them. And she was so grateful of how grateful I was. Why wouldn't God be the same way? Or maybe you believe in the universe. You know, if you keep complaining and yelling at the universe, I don't say God, but it's 2026. You gotta talk to everybody. Do you think it wants to get things better? When you are on the freeway and somebody just sitting there with they hood up and they just sitting there and they look mad and upset, a lot of people gonna pass them up. Maybe a good Samaritan to come by and help them. But a lot more people are gonna pass them up. But when you see somebody out there and their car broke down, but they pushing it and maybe they got their family in a car. Maybe their wife is a man in the steering wheel and he's trying to push it. People, I've done it, I will stop. Get out they car and help you push, help you get to safety, help you get to where you need to go. People on the freeway, God, the universe. They tend to be more responsive when they see you trying to help yourself. So I'm grateful for the people that watch this show. I'm grateful for the people that argue with me about this show, even at late that I do not agree with. And I'm grateful for all this stuff, being able to do it. Because 15 years ago, this would have been nearly impossible and super expensive to do. So even if I just stay in my, you know, some of my clips would do like 2000, 3000, 4000. I'm grateful when it's 20. I'm grateful. So I really want you to be in a conversation with me. I really want to have a conversation with you. So with that said, thank you for listening to Color Commentary. We love to hear from you. So drop us an email at colorcommentarypod at gmail.com. One more time, that's colorcommentarypod at gmail.com. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show. Leave us a five star review. Share it on social media and join us every Thursday for more. Y'all be safe. For anybody in the eye of that storm. Protect your people. Stay away from the windows. I've never heard them tell people not to walk their dogs, you know, just gotta just clean the dogs. Stuff up in the house tonight if you're in the Midwest, but take care of yourselves. All right, y'all. Peace out. Enjoy the movies and let me know your thoughts after you watch the Oscars. Did your movies win? Let me know. Peace.